1890. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



yellow band:;. For instance, the pure 

 blooded bte will maintain its ])osition 

 on the combs] and will not run and 

 scamper when the smoke is ai)i)lied 

 and the hive opened, like bees of otb--^ 

 er varieties. The queens are less ex- 

 citable and not so easily frightened. 

 1 wish here to be understood.that these 

 observations apply to Italian bees as 

 received from Italy. 



Every experienced breeder of Ital- 

 ian queens know that by a selection of 

 his yellowest female and male stock, 

 he CHn, in a few generations, produce 

 bees with bands much yellower and 

 brighter than the original imported 

 stock ; and if there is an introduction 

 of Cypian or Syrian blood, the yellow 

 is further extended and increased. 

 Queens from such stock may be bright 

 yellow ; drones brilliantly mottled 

 with gold ; and workers with four or 

 five yellow bands. The dull markings 

 of the Italian ancestors are obliterated 

 by the brightness of the golden bean- 

 ies. It is very questionable in my 

 mind whether these Americanized 

 four and five banded bees can, Avith 

 propriety, be called Italians. There 

 is a change of physical characteristics 

 from the original. They can not 

 strictly come within the text of my 

 paper. Color here is no criterion of 

 purity. It only indicates that there 

 has been a selection of yellow stock 

 for breeding. 



My text confines me to the mark- 

 ings of Italian bees as we get them 

 from Italy. These must be pure if 

 the fact of their coming from that 

 country can make them so. The col- 

 or of imported Italian queens vary 

 from quite dark to yellow ; drones 

 from nearly black to mottled with 

 yellow ; workers with three bands 



varying from dark leather to bright 

 yellow. In some cases the third band 

 can not be seen till the abdomen is 

 distended with honey. The queen 

 progeny of many imported queens 

 may vary from nearly black to yellow. 

 Now, we cannot say that the imported 

 queens that produce dark queens, 

 drones or workers, are impure, or 

 claim purity for only the bright ones. 

 The dark color does not indicate im- 

 purity any more than the light color 

 indicates purity. We have seen that 

 the Italian bee is only a variety, and, 

 as such in breeding, it is liable to 

 sport or revert back toward the orig- 

 inal — sometimes to dark, sometimes 

 to yellow ; but still maintaining the 

 three bauds as a sort of standard of 

 excellence. Without some standard 

 of excellence, or ideal bee, it is im- 

 possible to breed a variety up to a 

 high attainment. 



When the breeder of bright yellow 

 bees embodies in his bee vigor of con- 

 stitution and an increased capacity 

 for gathering honey as the prime fac- 

 tor, and color as a secondary constitu- 

 tion — utility leading beauty — we shall 

 have the bee of the future. Color, 

 then, in the Americanized Italian will 

 indicate excellence in the bee, and the 

 insect itself will stand as a monument 

 to the skill, patience, and persever- 

 ance of its developers. 



(From Bee-Keepers' Record.) 



ABOUT BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



SUCCESSES AND FAILURES; OR, " DO BEES 

 PAY?" 



The question, "Do bees pay?" is 

 one upon which I suppose 11 is impos- 

 sible to hope for unanimity of opinion, 

 for while the large majority of bee- 

 keepers would answer in the affirma- 



